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Jan 2000 |
Wednesday 5th January
God bless Jas Sidhu. He arranged for me to be upgraded to Club Class on the return flight back here. Champagne and super-comfy seat all the way back... in fact the seat was a little too comfy because after I'd knocked over my seventh glass of champagne* I slept all the way... I wish the journey had been longer than 12 hours so that I could have enjoyed the luxury just a little longer.
*That was the seventh glass I'd been given to drink .. I hadn't knocked over six glasses previously!
Thursday 6th January
Woops.. some of the Christmas cards I posted to the UK from here in Thailand took a little longer than expected to arrive:
Thanks fot the XChristmas card which arrived today - I like it!
Hope you had a goof trip baxk.
Shep
PS - Plwase excuse any mistales - It's dark, I have the computrt on my lap
and am too lazy to get up and switch the light on so I can't see the
keyvboard and keep hirring the keys nect to the ones that I reallt want!
Friday 7th January
Thought I'd go away somewhere exotic before the new school year starts but hung around the house and did lots of little jobs instead. I bought some seeds back from the UK for the back garden but can't find any room to plant them as it's overgrown with lettuce!
Saturday 8th January
I remember Simon Foley (www.simonfoley.com) talking in his diary of the difficult time he had had when he sacked his maid. Well I'm now in the same position having to find a new maid myself. I know you people reading this back in the UK are wondering what planet we're on having these ex-pat dilemmas and it all sounds like something from "Upstairs, Downstairs" (if you remember that TV programme).... but when you've been here over a year it gradually affects you that way.
Sunday 9th January
Watched the whole of Firecrackers II video this afternoon... The digitally re-mastered surround sound version. Got very sentimental .... It was six years ago next month!
Monday 10th January
Had to tidy house for ready for possible new maid ... interviewing someone tomorrow.
Tuesday 11th January
Have a new maid, called Lee. Had a very good reference from previous employer. She starts tomorrow. Apparently she has a friend who sells flowers on the market and at the end of the day gives her the leftovers. I think my house will soon become the Bangkok Botanical.
Wednesday 12th January
Saw the video "Rear Window", the Christopher Reeve version. Apart from the high tech, it's like that here sometimes.
Can someone explain the ending of that film to me?
Thursday 13th January
We were given a "welcome back" talk by our new Headmaster, Dr Paul, this week. He told us that those throw away birthday cards that play happy birthday have within them more computing power that existed in the whole world in 1950.
Friday - Sunday 16th January
Hired a car for the weekend, Drove down to Pattaya on Friday evening and came back on Saturday afternoon. Stayed in the "First Tallest Seaside Hotel" (whatever that means).
Couldn't believe that people (paying members of the public) were jumping off the top of this building sliding down a cable. Sort of a giant aerial runway.
Click on the pictures above to see the full sized versions
Monday 17th January
Enjoyed a meal in a little Thai restaurant appearing on the menu as "penfed" pork. I'm still not sure whether this pig was fed in a special pen or whether it was pan fried?
Tuesday 18th January
Wow ... the new maid did the gardening today too! She pruned the shrubs, repotted plants and cut the grass.
Wednesday 19th January
Happy birthday Nanna
(90) today!
Oo-ay-porn wun gert
Thursday 20th
A few months ago, Richard Branson was speaking in a non-English speaking market. Translations followed his very English joke. Branson later learnt that what the translator said was, "Ladies and gentlemen, the speaker is now making a joke. It is not very funny but we must make him feel good and laugh. So I will prompt you to laugh.
"Now, get ready. One, two, three - laugh."Friday 21st
Adam Hall sent me this picture of a birthday card he had found:
Saturday 22nd
I'm sure I've done this before but, browsing the internet as you do, I came across the page which translates into various languages. I took the diary entry at the beginning of this month and translated it into Portuguese then back into English;
The god bless Jas Sidhu. He arranged so that I am promoted for club here the classroom in the back part of the rollback of the flight. Champagne and the super-comfy-comfy seat all the way stops backwards... in the fact the ones seat was little too much comfy because later that I beaten on mine seventh glass of the champagne * I slept all the way... I desire that the trip had been longer of 12 hours in mode that I could have appreciated the luxury only a little longer.
Sunday 23rd
Got up early today (even though it was a Sunday) and went to buy fresh fish from the early market. When I say fresh I really mean it, the fluttering of the carrier bag on the way home was not the wind!
Bought a carpet for the front room. Got it home and laid it only to find it's a little pongy! Left the a.c. on and the doors open ... hope it doesn't last too long. (the smell that is.. not the carpet)
Monday 24th
Exactly two years ago today was my first visit to this fascinating country. You can see what I wrote when I returned to Singapore by clicking here.
"...Wherever you looked there were open air bars with girls, girls and more girls calling to you...."
Tuesday 25th
Payday!
Saw the film "Double Jeopardy" last night, Really enjoyed it
Simon Foley doesn't write a diary entry for every day but when he does write something it's either very funny or a down to earth commentary of Thai life. Here's what I mean:
I went out last night (shock horror), I was coming back from a night out with Mike and John about 2am when I saw policeman grab someone around the neck and shove him on the floor. It was just in front of my house, so I got out the Taxi and had a look. The copper was really rough with the guy, who was no more than 16 years old. He kicked him really hard whilst he was on the floor and shoved his hard into the motorbike bars. I being a bit worse for wear decided that going for a close look was a good idea - duh! In true Thai fashion the lad, who was really scared and in some pain, asked how much to pay his way out - A normal question of Thai police as there answer is normally quite quick in coming and involves just as much as you can give to make them as much as they can - this sent the copper into a right rage and he took a massive kick in the lads throat and knocked him over. The kick was literally a flying kick and it sent him about 2 metres away. The cop had been trying to get cuffs on the lad and so he had his hands behind his back. The 2 metre distance was enough and he whipped off on a runner. The Thai cop who must not have run since he was in school judging by his pot belly sprinted after him, well I say sprinted. I decided to have a jog behind and had no problems keeping up. The lad was about 20 yards away when he jumped into the canal. The cop was having none of following him (he was afraid it would get his fat wallet wet), so what did he do? Pulled his gun and tried to shoot him. I am just about 5 metres behind this now and thinking that being so close was not a great idea.
They never caught the lad, or at least that had not caught him by the time I'd decided that my encroaching hangover was too much and I went home for a water and a 5 minute session of trying to get into bed without breaking anything.
Incidents like this bring it home to me how we see a different side of Thailand being foreign. I asked some of the bystanders what had happened. They said that the lads had stolen a motorbike and was racing it..... www.simonfoley.com
Wednesday 26th
Played squash... won a pizza.
Congratulations to the Sahotas for being nominated as the "Band of the Millennium" by the Eastern Eye magazine in the UK
It's official! Sahotas are "the band of the millennium". Fans bombarded Eastern Eye's offices with nominations for their favourite band after Eastern Eye Newspaper launched a competition last year! The odds were in favour of the Sahotas.........and in the end the Wolverhampton boys pulled through. Their ability to sing live on stage and sound better than their recorded material, combined with their dedication to fans, have given the boys an invincible lead in the popularity stakes.
Received a piece of the 90th birthday cake in the middle of a padded letter. Here's a picture just to prove it arrived un-squashed!
Thursday 27th
It almost as if you have to have a good excuse! On Thursdays and Fridays at school staff ask each other where they are going that weekend. As most staff come out to an International school to travel, you feel as though you need a good reason not to nip off somewhere described in the Lonely Planet every weekend.
Half term looming and folk are either coming up with plans for great trips or making the excuse that their plans for Easter are so mega that they need to save money this short holiday.
I've promised myself a China trip soon but are still trying to find the right dates friends can make.
Friday 28th
Tutor group made a huge train on the back wall of the classroom as part of the Kanchanaburi display
Saturday 29th
Weekend doing some school work ... no excuses.
Spent more money than intended at Angelinis. Still it does have quite a reputation:
Any list of Italian restaurants in Bangkok would have to include Angelini's near the top. It recently won the "Best Italian Restaurant In Bangkok" award from Bangkok Dining and Entertainment magazine for the second consecutive year, and in August was named as one of the "Top Ten Great Hotel Restaurants in the World" by the US-based Hotels magazine.
Sunday 30th
"Hey Honey" would be the correct way to call this lady I photographed near the bus stop. She is selling honey, still in the honeycomb... how do you spread it on toast?
Monday 31st
Amazing Thailand. Where else would you see...
... an ad for donkey rides asked "Would you like to ride on your own
ass?".
... in a Bangkok dry-cleaners: Drop your trousers here for best results.
... in a Bangkok temple: It is forbidden to enter a woman even a foreigner if dressed as a
man.
Diary:
